The Count of Monte Cristo 2002

Critics score:
73 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: If The Count of Monte Cristo doesn't transform Caviezel into a movie star, then the game is even more rigged than it was two centuries ago. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Audiences and readers began cheering Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo in 1846, and goodwill likely will continue through the tale's latest movie reincarnation. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: A big, vacuous, sometimes exciting glamour-puss of a movie. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Solid, unpretentious, thoroughly competent film... Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Frequently entertaining and sometimes lovely to look at. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Fine escapism (sometimes literally). Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: When Wolpert's thudding dialogue is combined with Reynolds' tendency to direct things in the most bald-faced way, the results are not good. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: It's a fine, old-fashioned-movie movie, which is to say it's unburdened by pretensions to great artistic significance. Read more

Paul Tatara, CNN.com: An unexpectedly entertaining slice of old-fashioned swashbuckle, the kind of sweeping, periodically absurd picture that was cranked out on an assembly line in the 1940s. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: There's a thin line between likably old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy, and The Count of Monte Cristo ... never quite settles on either side. Read more

Don Irvine, Globe and Mail: All in all, it's a pretty good execution of a story that's a lot richer than the ones Hollywood action screenwriters usually come up with on their own. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Its lack of quality earns it a place alongside those other two recent Dumas botch-jobs, The Man in the Iron Mask and The Musketeer. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is the kind of movie that used to be right at home at the Saturday matinee, and it still is. Read more

Jeff Stark, Salon.com: The classic book had a lot of complex, smart things to say about revenge. The movie doesn't. Read more

Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle: This new movie version of the Alexandre Dumas classic is the stuff of high romance, brought off with considerable wit. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: [An] above average piece of junk. Read more

Time Out: A preposterous, expansive and self-conscious attempt to resurrect the historical spectacular. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: [A] pleasant diversion. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: A rousingly old-fashioned swashbuckler with an abundance of vigorous action and nary a trace of wink-wink irony. Read more

Jessica Winter, Village Voice: The week's guilty pleasure ... a gorgeously photographed, sumptuously designed adaptation of the Dumas swashbuckler boasting the most ludicrous dialogue since director Kevin Reynolds's Waterworld. Read more